Hi there, community!

As I saw way too many times people, even Poles-themselves wondering how comes the Polish passport is so desirable by non-EU persons I'd like to make a little breakdown of A) Why is it regarded high up the passport's ranks and B) What does contribute to it's power. As you might've guessed there is no simple answer, but I've tried to simplify it as much as possible!

(*) – references

1) Why is it considered strong?

– the Polish passport does allow visa free/visa on arrival/e-visa to around ~190 countries and territories according to Henley Passport Index(*1). It's an outstanding number, putting it in top the 10 (quite often in top3 or top5) in almost every passport's ranking imaginable.

– Freedom of Movement within the EEA-EFTA block (*2) (second biggest market in the world), all the paperwork and hustle is reduced to minimum for those planning to work/live/study in the countries of the block.

– Vocational work/travel/exchange programs available for the younger folks, like – Work and Travel in the US, similar programs in Australia, Canada, South America, East Asia etc…

2) What are the factors contributing to the Polish passport's power?

– First of all the so-called reciprocity mechanism of the Schengen area(*3), putting it simply it's the EU's requirement to get all the Schengen countries citizens Visa-free access to a third country if there be arrangements between the block and the third party: example – Poland doesn't have to worry about not having diplomatic relations with the "X" country, if there are visa free arrangements between the block and "X" The Schengen block will make sure to get the visa-free privileges for all the citizens.

– The Polish population is rather old, the average age in Poland in 2025 being – 42.5 years old(*4), and will get even older in the upcoming years. The older folks don't tend to migrate (*5) to or stay illegally in a third-country. So, there are smaller risks for the accepting side (whatever country outside of the EU or the Schengen area). Thus, letting polish tourists in doesn't present serious illegal-migration threats.

– Economic Development of Poland: It's getting richer by day(*6), and unemployment is again near all-time lows(*7), this further reduces the emigration from Poland,

Taking the above-mentioned into account it's no wonder the Polish Passport is strong as it is!

*As I said It's a really long topic and I simplified it to almost an inexcusable degree, otherwise it could've gotten get even more boring if to dig deeper in it. 馃槄 Please do add what you think I might have missed or correct me if you think I'm wrong.
Peace!

References:

*1) https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index/ranking
*2) https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/democracy-eu-citizenship-anti-corruption/free-movement-and-residence_en
*3) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/memo_18_6822
*4) https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/poland-demographics/
*5) https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/99/pdfs/impact-of-aging-on-scale-of-migration.pdf
*6) https://tradingeconomics.com/poland/gdp-growth-annual
*7) https://www.gov.pl/web/family/the-statistics-poland-confirmed-our-estimates-unemployment-in-april-2024-is-the-lowest-in-30-years

by Flaky_Ad4917

21 comments

  2. Which means the citizenship by ancestry should be removed, people becoming “Poles” for passport with no association to actual country or will to contribute and assimilate is just extortion.

  3. I guess you meant why is it appealing to many. Well the answer is simple – there are many in North America who would like to settle in Europe(meaning the EU). They do not necessarily intend to live in Poland, just to have a door opened聽 towards Western Europe. The same happens for other EU passports BTW.

  5. > What makes the Polish Passport so strong

    The European Union.

  6. Your Top10 argument comes with a massive caveat that of course you don鈥檛 mention. There are other 37 countries in that top10, or 19% of world countries. So no, Polish passport is not that special, nor any other passport for that matter.

    It鈥檚 rather common to have access to ~190 visa free/ e-visa and visa on arrival.

  7. A policy of maintaining at least neutral to positive relations with like 99% of the globe. Also recent economical progress means that no developed country fears mass migration of poles looking for jobs anymore.

  9. I think it’s mostly because we are not problematic when we’re outside Poland. Second of all, if we decided to stay somewhere for a longer period of time, we will work and support local economies instead of living on the hosts’ cost.

  11. “comes the Polish passport is so desirable by non-EU persons”
    Only because of two things:
    – Because of shengen zone poland is in
    – it is polish and poland is so corrupted you can get this passport very easy, sometimes you can literally buy it avoiding any background check.
    Thats the only reasons.

  12. So easy to forget how it was just 40 years ago when after the most absurd lines to the passport office (run by the state security service), if you were lucky enough to get your passport, you’d go to spend a night in line for the German visa, then another day for another one, etc.

  18. Ciekawostka zwi膮zana z tematem,

    w czasie PRL w latach 80’tych polskie SB (w tym rz膮d PRL) udziela艂 schronienia dla pro-palesty艅skich terroryst贸w (sprawa Muhammad Zaidana np.) Dzi臋ki temu Polska w przeciwie艅stwie do innych pa艅st zachodnich (w szczeg贸lno艣ci post-kolonialnych) nie jest uznawana za g艂贸wnego wroga islasmskich organizacji terrorystycznych, a nawet czasem jako pa艅stwo neutralne w tych konfliktach. Dlatego organizacje humanitarne albo podczas misji pokojowych du偶o transport贸w jest oznakowane polsk膮 ‘bander膮’ bo wtedy szansa na atak na takowy jest mniejsza.

  20. UE and being part of the western world + mostly good relations with everybody else (partly from the times before 1989). Poland is now capybara/bober of nations

  21. I’ve been trying to get an appointment to renew my Polish passport for months now. There are never any open slots available. I live in the US. Is this everyone’s experience, or am I missing something here?

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